Q&A with Piper Vaughn

Hi Piper, CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS on your new release “Asylum”which came out last week – we really appreciate you taking the time to come and chat to us on “Live Your life, Buy The Book” !

Okay, let the grilling commence . . . .

Hey! Thanks for having me! Looking forward to being grilled. 😀

This is your first venture in self publishing – how was it? Easier or harder than you thought?

Can I cheat and say both? 🙂 The actual process of putting the book out there is fairly straightforward. The sites I put it up on are user friendly and guide you through every step if you need it. The hard part was actually deciding when it was ready to go out. I hired a freelance editor, and I put the story through numerous betas, but since I’m putting the story out there under my own name (as the publisher), I know all the blame for anything and everything that could go wrong will fall on me. There’s no one backing me like there would have been if I had a publisher for this project. At the same time, I did enjoy being able to make all the decisions about the cover, pricing, and the blurb, which are things we sometimes have minimal say in when working with a publishing house.

The cover to Asylum is gorgeous… was it a difficult task picking this one? Hours poring over model shots ? . . . sounds like a tough gig 😉

Hehe. It wasn’t too hard at all. LC Chase made it for me. She’s done several of my covers. I found the picture of this model, which I had saved earlier because he just looked like my Johnny, and described the general mood I wanted for the cover. She made up some samples and sent them to me. I picked one I liked and asked for a couple of tweaks, and what you see is the finished result.

Asylum is essentially a Hallowe’en story, why in February? Was it a case of it took longer than you thought? Or just it is what it is, and what it is is GREAT – I really enjoyed it!

For me, it’s a case of it is what it is. I suppose it could be considered a Halloween story because of the timing. It does take place around Halloween, but at the same time, it’s not meant to be scary and Halloween itself isn’t the focal point of the story. The focus is Johnny and Brennan and their relationship. So, while I could have held onto it and released it closer to Halloween, I figured the actual release date didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. (Glad to hear you enjoyed it, by the way. 😀 )

Will there be more? I would love to know more about Cameron & Dean; and how they met. Or even Johnny and Brennan, and how they manage to mold both of their worlds.

This is up in the air right now, but it’s entirely possible. 🙂 I’ve been asked for a sequel by a few people. The idea I have in mind at the moment is actually something from the POV of a customer of the haunted house who happens to fall for one of the staff members—after getting the hell scared out of him, of course. 😛 That story would definitely be a Halloween type of release.

As a non-American, that wasn’t brought up with the wonderful Hallowe’en experience as a yearly event – do these scare house companies actually exist? Or is that just your creativity? It is a brilliant concept.

Haunted houses similar to Fear Asylum do exist here and crop up throughout my area every year. I’m not sure if any of them travel the rest of the year like the Fear Asylum crew or if any of them sneak staff members in with the guests, but they are around. As interesting tidbit, I’ve never actually been inside one of the bigger ones, just a tiny, nonofficial one at a local pumpkin farm. I have looked into them for research purposes, though, and have a general idea of what they entail.

I won’t ask which you prefer (as I know how much you love your co-authors!) but how different is it writing solo and writing as a team? Harder? Lonely 😦 ?

I actually really love writing jointly, as is probably easy to guess considering I’ve done it quite a few times and plan to do it again. Writing solo is definitely a lonelier experience. You don’t have someone relying on you, so you’re free to take your time and do what you want. At the same time, you don’t have anyone to share the excitement with, and I very much enjoy bouncing ideas and creating stories with someone else. I think it’s fun working together to create a cohesive whole. I’m not sure I prefer one to the other. I enjoy both in different ways.

How do you split the writing duties? Do you each have you own characters? And if so.. who had Nick ?

It depends on the story, actually. For the “One Thing” series, which is written in alternating first person, we each took on a character and wrote the scenes in his point of view. For the “Lucky Moon” series, we split it up by chapters. Same for my “Clumsy Cupid” series with Xara. So to answer your question, MJ and I both had Nick (and Luka). 🙂

How did you and MJ O’Shea first hook up as writing partners?

We met in the M/M Romance group on Goodreads. In a thread about men in eyeliner, which is oddly appropriate. lol. We and a few other authors formed a critique group not long after that and eventually, after reading some of MJ’s work, I asked if she’d have any interest in writing together. She said yes. 🙂 As an aside, my relationship with my other coauthor, Xara, began pretty much the same way.

I just loved “The Party Boy’s Guide to Dating a Geek”; any idea when we could be getting Book 2?

Our tentative goal is to have it out in September or October of this year. Barring complications, of course. Real life gets in the way of deadlines sometimes. 😛

You are going to the UK Meet in Manchester , right? Is this your first time going to the UK?

Yes to both questions. I’m really excited!

How is the wardrobe going… have you injected any yellow into any of your outfits? 😛

There is very little yellow. However, I have injected some more green and purple. 😛

Lastly… we are running a poll to see the most popular “Lucky Moon Series” couple. Could you choose a favourite?

I think I could, but I love all the boys/couples. 🙂

Q U I C K F I R E R O U N D :

Macklemore or Eminem

Macklemore

Margarita or cosmopolitan

Margarita

What song or artist is your favourite at the minute?

Ed Sheeran is my current favorite. He’s amazing.

Thai or Italian take out?

Italian (I’m a sucker for pasta.)

Thanks so much for stopping by! And we hope to see you again – with whichever wonderful book you bring out next!

I am such a fangirl of yours! I honestly love all your books I’ve read. I adored Party Boys Guide to Dating a Geek and am thrilled to be getting another one of those soon! What else do you have planned for us this year?

Question, I remember reading you like BDB. Which is your favorite brother?

I have a fair number of projects planned for this year, but right now I only have 3 releases on my schedule. Depending on when I finish certain things, there might be 1 or 2 more. So far these are the three in the works: 1) “Ringing True” (Wanting #3), which I hope to have out in May. 2) The 2nd book in the “Clumsy Cupid Guidebooks” series, which will hopefully release in Sept or Oct. 3) The 3rd book in the “One Thing” series, which should be out in Oct/Nov, if everything goes smoothly. 🙂

I am definitely a fan of the BDB. Been following that series since book #1. 🙂 My favorite brother is Zsadist, followed by John Matthew. ❤ What about you?

Thanks for the fabuloso interview ladies! I’m a huge fangrrl of yours Piper (I think you kind of already guessed that!) and congrats on the release of Asylum. It’s great!! BTW six more sleeps until I see Ed Sheeran 🙂

Loved reading your interview, thanks Piper and Barb! I’m another fangirl, I was so happy to meet you at GRL last year and get your signature on my kindle cover 🙂 Can’t wait to read Asylum and am so excited for what you’ve got in store for us to read this year!

I’m new to your work. Ladies this interview was intriguing and has interested me in trying Piper’s books. Think I’m going to start with Party Boys Guide to Dating a Geek. I love that title. Nice to meet you.

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